6.5-06 Build and Thank You Edited for easier reading.

[Turpentine]

Guys I am a new member here but I’ve been reading and researching through your posts for a few years. I’ve been reloading and shooting rifle and pistol for quite a while. Never for competition though except for the friendly Sunday afternoon sort of thing. I am a certified sporting clays instructor and target setter. I have shot in competition in Sporting Clays and have set my fair share of targets for clays tournaments. Ive been around guns all my life and started my rifle off with a Remington 270 Model Six pump. It didn’t have the best trigger in the world so my second 270, a Ruger m77 with the tang safety followed me home one day. I loved that rifle. I put a Kahles straight 8x56 on that thing and we killed an absolute trainload of deer together. A good friends dad, my mentor, had gotten me interested in reloading at 15 and he would loan me his reloading manuals to study. I read those things till I knew them by heart. There was one caliber in there that lit me up so to speak and that was the 6.5-06. I still hunted with the 270 and started thinking that one day I was going to build myself a 6.5-06. I also have an assortment of 308s, 270s and 6.5 Grendel’s now. Including a model 70 Winchester in 270, and a heavy 308 varmint rifle build. Do to injuries sustained earlier in life, I Cannot handle a lot of recoil. Muzzle breaks give me concussion symptoms. I had far to many of those from football.
2 months ago I woke up and said this is it, it’s go time on the 6.5-06. I decided on an Oryx Chassis for the long action. I then bickered back and forth internally about a Remington 700 or a custom action. Long story short, I picked up a Mack Brothers custom long action paired with a 2 stage Triggertech SPECIAL trigger. Then I went with Nightforce SHV 5x20x 56. The Triggertech surprised me. I like it almost as much as I like my Geissele Super 700 two stage. The action is nice, very smooth but I’m new to customs. So all I needed now was a barrel . I found a 26” varmint contour 1 in 8” Criterion stainless barrel in 6.5-06 MATCH set up for a Remage build. The Remage option has interested me since it became available. The chassis has as well as I tend to shoot better with an AR type grip because of some hand issues. The gun went together easily and I headspaced it with the 30-06 go,no go gauges recommended by the barrel maker. Reading older posts from you guys has given me the ideas I needed to go forward. i sincerely thank you for helping me get here to this point. Theres a lot of good information here for sure and the folks seem very friendly.
I decided to use Winchester 270 Brass and trim it to 2.484 or minimum after sizing. Powder, I know that either of the H 4831s are sought after. But I have not been able to find any. I intend to find some though so any recommendations on standard or the short cut will help. I do have 8 pounds of IMR 4350 and my Sierra manual shows some decent loads,with IMR 4350. I want to try the Hornady 147 eldm. first. Federal 210 match primer. Or Winchester large rifle and Winchester 270 brass. I also have a lot of Remington 30-06 and 270 brass. Do any of you know any good solid loads for those components? I’m not looking for blazing speed. 2850 would work for me with 147s. 2950 for 140s would also be fine. What Im after is accuracy and consistency at long range for informal shooting out to 1000 yards and possibly beyond. The rifle will also be used for long range depredation/varmint work so a high BC bullet that performs like the Amax I use in 308s would be great. I have done a lot of load work up in various calibers. For this session, I mainly wanted to get some rounds down the tube and look for pressure.
I loaded 4 bullets at 49.5, 3 at 50.0 gr, 3 at 50.5, and 3 at 50.8; For 49.5 the 4 shot group was .91, 3 at 50 grains were .74, and 3 at 50.5 were .6 inches. I ran out of light before I got to try 50.8. There were zero pressure signs. Bolt lift was great, primers nice and round. I’m thinking there’s a node right there close between 50.5 and 50.8. Next time out I will do some chronograph work also. This was at 10 thousandths off the lands, seated at 3.390”. I really would like to hear any advice and tips that you guys might have. Load recommendations, powder choices. I know I’ve rambled and I apologize to anyone that tried to read my first post before I got back to edit it. I got sleepy evidently. Thank you for your patience. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

[Beiruty]

So, is it a Remington 280, you have built?

File:280 Remington.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[L.Sherm]

I found a 26” varmint contour Criterion njpqstainless barrel marked 6.5-06 MATCH set up for a Remage build.

 

[Turpentine]

So, is it a Remington 280, you have built?

File:280 Remington.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

So, is it a Remington 280, you have built?

File:280 Remington.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

No sir. It is a standard 6.5-06. Sorry for the long, rambling introductory post, I’m editing now

 

[Riesel]

It is NOT a .280 and a fine selection you made with the 6.5-06, it is a delightful cartridge.
My Jack "Reacher" target runs with 142 SMK with either 46.6 Grains RL 16 or 49.8 grains of
RL 19. .0010 off is a good starting point. I use Mag primers in all.

My "A Ross" hunting rifle runs with 139 Berger Classic Hunter and 52.4 grains of RL19, again, mag primers.
Take all precautions necessary to avoid trouble, these work in my rifles, maybe not yours.
Be Safe,
Robert

 

[Turpentine]

Yes sir and thank you. I’ve always wondered how it didn’t become a mainstay. Perhaps the 270 overshadowed it a bit. In todays environment I wanted a caliber that used common, plentiful brass that did not have to be fireformed. I also wanted a good selection of high BC bullets and a little more zip than 6.5 Creed. I had wondered about Mag primers. I don’t have any but the Winchester primers are a bit warmer. I plan to try them and compare with the chronograph And grouping.
I like Alliant powder for rifle, pistol, and shotgun, particularly AR Comp in 308. Some of the lowest es and Sd numbers I have ever seen were AR Comp loads and it truly brought my AR 10 to life. Unfortunately, Alliant seems to have almost disappeared from the market at the moment. Using their components in house to produce ammo first I’m sure.
I always start low and work up And appreciate the warning. I‘ve seen firsthand what careless reloading can do and surely don’t want to go there.
I am running 270 brass with Hornady One Shot lube through a standard RCBS 6.5-06 full length die. Then trimming with a Forster 3 in 1. Sizing effort is pretty light. Cases look great. I appear to have approximately .0015 neck tension. I am wondering if I would benefit from annealing and cleaning up the necks with light outside turning. I just don’t want to go overboard with brass prep unless it’s necessary.

 

[jr600yd]

I shot a 6.5/06 for several years in long range competition. I found Winchester LR primers a little wonky when shooting at near or max loads. Never had a problem with Federal 210 or 210M primers. I got better ES & SD’s with them. A great bullet for LR is either the Berger 140 or Sierra 142gr. Depending on your chambers neck diameter you might have to do a lot of trimming and neck turning using 30/06 brass. My rifle liked .004 neck clearance and .002 neck tension. Much easier with 25/06 brass as stated above. A lot of powders will work, H-4831sc was always one of my favorites. Don’t overlook R-23, R-26 and several other “Newer” powders. A 1/8 barrel will shoot just about any bullet weight you want although I’d don’t recommend the 160gr bullets, not even for hunting.